I've always wondered how many bites I never detected, and even thought about
the size of the fish... it's very interesting.

When I fish a Fluke, I usually keep it in view so I can see the fish take
the bait. Very seldom do I ever feel anything with any floating plastic, so
being able to see it is critical to me. Smallmouths can be tricky anyway.
Either they'll slam the bait, or just do the inhale/exhale thing and unless
you watch your line, you'll never feel anything.


"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
. ..
Hey all,

Just had some observations from a Canada trip a couple years ago. A friend
and I were fishing a small lake that was gin clear. Just packed full of
smallmouth. Plus this lake had a slot limit , so we caught and released
over 80 smallies in one day between 14-17". Now that is not what this
post
is about. I just wanted to share some observations I had while catching
these fish. I started using a zoom super fluke. I could watch smallies
inhale and exhale my bait without my line even twitch. I saw this happen
easily over a dozen times. It was interesting, because I feel I pay
pretty
close attention to my line , and feel of the bait, and do not have a lot
of
slack. I couldn't believe how fast they could hammer the bait and exhale
it
without me even feeling it at all.
I also decided to pull out my fly rod and throw #8 Teeny Nymphs for
smallies, and they really bit well on those, but same thing, fish would
inhale and exhale without so much as make my line twitch. It was pretty
crazy, and made me think of all those dirty water tournaments that I
fished
a fluke in , and the possibility of fish spitting my lure without it ever
even registering.
Just thought I would share.

Chris